More than 3,000 years ago, our ancestors invented the 10 tian gan and 12 di zhi for chronological purpose. These signs are used to designate the hours, days, months and years. However, since most people at that time were illiterate, the signs were difficult to use. Later, to make things easier to memorize, people used animals to symbolize the 12 earthly branches, the animals in order are the mouse, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.

The daily time for different animals is shown as follow:

Animal

Time

Animal

Time

Mouse

23:00 – 01:00

Ox

01:00 – 03:00

Tiger

03:00 – 05:00

Rabbit

05:00 – 07:00

Dragon

07:00 – 09:00

Snake

09:00 – 11:00

Horse

11:00 – 13:00

Sheep

13:00 – 15:00

Monkey

15:00 – 17:00

Rooster

17:00 – 19:00

Dog

19:00 – 21:00

Pig

21:00 – 23:00

Chinese Zodiac List

Chinese Zodiac

Year

1

Mouse

1924

1936

1948

1960

1972

1984

1996

2008

2

Ox

1925

1937

1949

1961

1973

1985

1997

2009

3

Tiger

1926

1938

1950

1962

1974

1986

1998

2010

4

Rabbit

1927

1939

1951

1963

1975

1987

1999

2011

5

Dragon

1928

1940

1952

1964

1976

1988

2000

2012

6

Snake

1929

1941

1953

1965

1977

1989

2001

2013

7

Horse

1930

1942

1954

1966

1978

1990

2002

2014

8

Sheep

1931

1943

1955

1967

1979

1991

2003

2015

9

Monkey

1932

1944

1956

1968

1980

1992

2004

2016

10

Rooster

1933

1945

1957

1969

1981

1993

2005

2017

11

Dog

1934

1946

1958

1970

1982

1994

2006

2018

12

Pig

1935

1947

195

1971

1983

1995

2007

2019

Many Chinese people strongly believe that the time of a person’s birth is the primary factor in determining that person’s personality. Many fortune– tellers, when telling your fortune, say they need to know your exact time of birth. Then，whether you are successful in your life and career, or whether you will be happy is clear to the fortune – teller.

You might ask why these signs are named after these animals and no others. According to one legend, during a Chinese new year celebration, Buddha invites all the animals to his kingdom, but unfortunately, for reasons only known to the animals, a total of 12 turned up, the mouth was naturally the first, followed by the Ox, then the tiger, the rabbit and son and finally the pig.

Out of gratitude, Buddha decided to name the year after each of the animals in their order of arrival, and people born of that year would inherit some of the personality traits of that particular animal. These animals are also supposed to have some influence over the period of time they were named after.

It is essential in China that every person knows which animal sign he is born under. That is because it has been implicitly agreed upon that no important steps of life should be taken without consulting first the Chinese Zodiac. Some Chinese consider this superstition, but many truly believe that the signs reveal the hidden secrets of a person’s character.

1.People born in the year of the mouse are said to be temperamental, alert, sensitive, open-minded, gentle and soft.

2.People born in the year of the Ox are said to be firm, tenacious, diligent, honest and happy maybe a little stubborn.

3.People born in the year of the Tiger are said to be bright, enthusiastic, bold and unstrained but quick tempered, for females, they may be as tender as a lovely cat.

4.People born in the year of the Rabbit are said to be kind, considerate, gentle, quiet, attentive, polite and peaceable but a little self-conceited.

5.People born in the year of the Dragon are said to be honorable, brave, healthy, energetic and intelligent, but may also be very temperamental and stubborn.

6.People born in the year of the Snake are said to be wealth, intelligent but maybe egotistical and conceited.

7.People born in the year of the Horse are said to be enegetic, high-spirited, popular humorous and intelligent but occasionally quick tempered.

8.People born in the year of the Sheep are said to be prudent, gentle, honest, calm, compassionate and fashionable but may be extremely dependent.

9.People born in the year of the Monkey are said to be shrewed, creative, agile and successful but irritable, sly and lack of respect for other.

10.People born in the year of the Rooster are said to be enegetic, outspoken, enterprising, forceful, romantic and profound in thinking but they may be spendthrifts and suspicious.

11.People born in the year of the Dog are said to be faithful, trustworthy, righteous and responsible but not very sociable and may be a little obstinate.

12.People born in the year of the Pig are said to be gentle, magnanimous, reliable, tolerant and calm but a little lazy and may not be very clever.